Flexible steam hose connection



July 22, 1941. s, RQHM I 2,250,205

FLEXIBLE STEAM HOSE CONNECTiON.

Filed June 11, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY July 22, 1941. H. s. ROHM '2,250;205

FLEXIBLE S'I'EAM HOSE CONNECTION Filed June 11, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NVENTCR @g sQ/j ATTORNEY Patented July 22, 1941 FLEXIBLE STEAM HOSE CONNECTION Herbert S. Rohm, East Moline, Ill., assignor to American Machine and Metals, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 11, 1938, Serial No. 213,155 2 Claims. (Cl. 38-36) This invention relates to a flexible hose connection. While the invention is capable of other uses it is particularly applicable to steam pressing machines and it will be particularly illustrated in that connection.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved steam connection which will permit the introduction of steam and the withdrawal of water of condensation from a chamber supported upon a jointed arm, as for example the pressing head of a steam press by a connection which will at all times maintain a tight connection while permitting flexibility of the chamber support.

It is a further object to provide such a joint in a press which will permit the pressing head to assume all of the normal relationships with regard to the buck that may occur in use without imposing any strain upon the steam connection.

Such a press ordinarily has the pressing head supported by a lever arm pivoted to the base and it has been heretofore proposed to provide a steam connection to the head by having concentric pipes pivoted about an axis in alignment with the pivot of the head lever. Such a procedure, however, does not relieve the steam connection of strain. The head itself is connected to the lever by flexible connections in order to permit it to tilt from side to side or from front to back to accommodate different thicknesses of goods or other obstruction that may occur at one part only of the pressing surface and such tilting of the head relative to the lever throws the steam connection out of alignment when a rigid pivoted joint is employed.

It has also been proposed to provide a flexible hose connection with the head, but such proposals have required a degree of flexing of the hose which has made them difiicult and expensive to maintain.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a connection which will normally pivot about the axis of movement of the head lever but which nevertheless will provide ample flexibility to permit the head to tilt in any direction upon its supports.

The steam supply to heat the head is condensed within the head and it is essential that means be provided to withdraw the water of condensation and it is important that this water of condensation shall not interfere with the flow of steam into the head. Itis a further object of this invention to provide, in a system of the character described, a connection whichwill afford independent means for supplying fresh steam and withdrawing the water of condensation.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangements of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a 1 device embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the machine.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 2.

In the drawings the numeral Ill designates a frame supporting a buck H from a gooseneck 12, A yoke or head lever i3 is pivoted to the frame at I4 and carries a pressing head IS in position to cooperate with the buck l I. As will be understood, the press may be provided with the customary counter-balancing springs l6 and an operaating mechanism, here represented by a link ll, pivoted to the yoke H3 at E8. The buck itself may be provided with suitable padding or spring padding Ila.

As illustrated the pressing head is connected to the, yoke by an equalizing means which affords tiltability to the head both about a front to back axis and about a lateral axis. To accomplish this result an equalizing arm 2i] is pivoted to the yoke at 2| and has arms Zfla and 2% extending to the right and left of the pivot. Springs 22 held by screws 23 are held against lugs 24 of the yoke on each side of pivot 25, so as to hold the equalizing arm in a central position. The equalizer arm 20 itself has at each end a V shaped bearing 25 fitting within a V shaped groove 26 in the top of the head and springs 21 held by screws 28 bear upon lugs 29 upon the equalizing lever to hold the bearing 25 in the groove 26 and to maintain it equalized with regard thereto.

With this construction the springs 22 and 21 are so tensioned that normally the head is in even contact with the buck throughout its surface but if by reason of the presence of a seam or an extra thickness of goods or buttons or the like one side or one end of the head be held up the head itself may tilt to bring the remainder into contact with the garment.

With this construction it will be clear that the pressed by pressure.

head may assume, with regard to the buck, any one of four extreme positions. (1) With the head horizontal in'its upper position of contact before pressure is applied. (2) With the front end of the head depressed but the back end held up by a seam or the like. (3) With the rear end of the head depressed and the front end held up. (4) With the entire head de- The center lines of these positions have been indicated on the drawings by the lines 21', c, d and e and from these it will be seen that the joint itself is subjected to a considerable twisting and turning during the operation of the press.

As will be readily understood, the head itself is hollow and means are provided for introducing steam into the hollow chamber thus formed and removing the water of condensation. To accomplish this result, there is provided a coupling 39 having two openings extending downwardly therefrom, one of which is connected to a steam supply 3! and the other to a conduit 32 to permit the draining on" of water of condensation and exhaust steam. A second coupling 33 is arranged to be attached tothe coupling 3!] and carries upwardly two flexible conduits 34 and 35, the conduit 35 being connected to the exhaust conduit 32 and the conduit 34 being connected to the-steam inlet 3|. The steam chest within the pressing head has an outlet 36a into which is screwed a fitting 3'! having two outwardly extending nipples 38 and 39 in position to be connected respectively to the flexible conduits 34 and 35.

The fitting 3'? is provided with two separate interior chambers, one of which, designated as 40, is in communication with the conduit 35 through. the nipple 39 and directly communicates with the steam chest through the outlet 36.

The other chamber il is closed by a partition 42 having a screw threaded, opening 43 into which is fitted a pipe 44 in position to extend through the opening 36 for a material distance into the steam chest, the pipe M being of materially less outside diameter than the outlet 35 so as to provide two concentric channels, 44, 36.

With this construction it will be clear that the flexible conduit 3% discharges through the.

pipe 44 into the middle of the steam chest and the steam chest itself is permitted to drain through the outlet 36 around the pipe 34 into the chamber '48 and out through the outlet pipe 35.

As will be seen from Figure 1, theflexible conduits 34 and 35 are so positioned and are of such length that in the tilting of the yoke to raise and lower the head, the conduit itself passes near the axis of the yoke pivot-thus providing-the, minimum distortion. of the flexible conduit itself.

Moreover, as will be seen, by reason of the flexibility of the conduit the head may be tilted in any direction Without disturbing the tightness ofthe joint.

While the head lies in the horizontal position, the pipe 44 leads the steam into the center portion of the steam chest and, as will be understood and asis shown by the drawings, the lower wall of the steam chest is upwardly convex so that its sides are below the lever of its center portionthus water of condensation within the chest passes to the front and back and the outlet end of the pipe E4 is by it.

The outlet 36 being taken from the edge of free from interferencev the chest permits the free exit of water of condensation close to it even while in the horizontal position and as soon as the head is raised the outlet is at substantially the lowest position of the steam chest, thus thoroughly draining all water from the chest without permitting any of this water to enter into the steam pipe 44.

As illustrated, the buck II is also provided with a heating chamber 45 and the outlet conduit 32 from the steam chest is arranged to discharge into the heating chamber 45 through a conduit 46 and a second conduit 41 leads the discharge from the heating chamber 45.

Ordinarily the pressures and temperatures maintained Within the devices are such that the actual condensation within the pressing head is kept at a minimum and at the same time the heating of the buck is confined to such temperature as will maintain the padding substantially dry without keeping the working surface too hot for the operator.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made Without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It-is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be saidto fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A steam connection adapted for use with a laundry press having a frame, a buck supported on said frame, a lever pivoted to the frame and a head carried by the lever, the head being hollow and provided with a steam chest therein, said connection comprising in combination, a pair of flexible hose sections, each connected at one end to the frame member and at the other end to the head, said sections lying side by side, spaced from each other in the direction of the axis of the lever pivot, a steam connection connected to admit steam to the frame end of one of said sections and a dis,- charge connection connected to receive exhaust from the frame end of the other section, a fitting on said head haw'ng two parallel sockets spaced apart in the direction of the axis of the lever pivots and adapted to receive the ends of said hose sections respectively, said fitting having an opening connecting one of said sockets to the interior of the head substantially atthe point of entry and said fitting having also another opening extending into the interior of the head and connected to the other of said sockets at a point normally above the point of entry, whereby the exhaust hose section is connected directly to the point of entry into said head and the steam hose is connected to the opening extending into the head.

2. A steam connection adapted for use with a laundry press having a frame, a buck supported on said frame, a lever pivoted to the frame and a head carried by the lever, the head being hollow and provided with a steam chest therein, said connection comprising in combination a pair of flexible hose sections, said sections being adjacent and lying parallel sideby side, spaced from each other in thedirection of the axisof the lever pivot, said sections being connected at one end to the frame and at the other end to the head, each of said sections being so disposed that the flexible hose sections extend from said connection toward the axis of the pivot lever and said sections being of such length as to avoid reverse bending of the section during the movement of the head, a steam connection connected to admitsteam to the frame end of one of said sections and a discharge connection connected to receive exhaust from the frame end of the other sections, a fitting on said head having two parallel sockets spaced apart in the direction of the axis of the lever pivots and adapted to receive the ends of said hose sections respectively, said fitting having an opening connecting one of said sockets to the interior of the head substantially at the point of entry and said fitting having also another opening extending into the interior of the head and connected to the other of said sockets at a point normally above the point of entry, whereby the exhaust hose section is connected directly to the point of entry into said head and the steam hose is connected to the opening extending into the head.

HERBERT S. ROI-1M. 

